“Did you get any skating in yesterday?” Robby asks.

Josh shrugs. “A little.”

“Street or park?”

He points his thumb to where the trucks are parked. “Driveway.”

“Really?” Robby says. “I let you take half the day off and you fuck around in the driveway?”

Josh smirks and taps my leg. “I got distracted.”

Without even knowing I’ve done it, I raise my hand. All eyes snap to me. I clear my throat. “He tried to teach me but I suck.”

I’m met with silence and confused stares and I instantly wonder if they’re just as freaked out about my voice as I am. My gaze drops and Josh’s hand moves from my leg to my stomach, pulling me closer to him.

Robby’s the first to speak. “Becca, you know I’m the one who bought him his first skateboard when he was seven?”

I shake my head, looking up at him through my lashes.

“I’m just saying,” Robby adds, “If anyone should be teaching you to skate, it should be me.”

His wife smacks him on the back of the head. To me she says, “Have you seen Josh skate, Becca? Like, actually, skate?”

I open my mouth but the words catch in my throat and I hesitate. Josh—he must sense that because he kisses me, right under my ear. Then he pulls away and with a single finger under my chin, he makes me face him. He’s smiling, his dark eyes twinkling under the moonlight, and there’s something about the way he looks at me that completely confuses me—like he’s proud and accepting of me, just as I am, and I want to give him a reason to see me in that way.

It’s as if he’s kicked off the ground, and now it’s up to me to push.

I tear my gaze away from him and look at Kim. “Just around in the driveway,” I whisper.

Kim raises her eyebrows at Josh.

I turn to him. “Am I missing something?”

“Nope,” Josh says quickly.

“Is there more?” I ask.

“Nope,” Josh repeats.

“But it—”

“Shh!”

“I just—”

He presses his lips to mine, cutting me off. I smell the beer on his breath, and when he opens his mouth and runs his tongue across my lips, I taste it. His hand tightens on my waist, the other going to the back of my neck holding me to him. And I forget everything else and get lost in his kiss. In him. He moans into my mouth, his hips lifting slightly and now my hands are in his hair and I’m dizzy. So dizzy.

“We’re gonna go,” Robby says and my eyes snap open and then shut tight when reality hits. For a moment, I’d forgotten we had an audience. I hide my face in Josh’s neck while he mumbles something incoherent. It sounds like he and Robby high five right before Robby chuckles and says, “It’s cool. Don’t stand up.”

Josh squirms beneath me.

And then I understand why.

We hold our positions, not a single word spoken, until we hear Robby’s truck roar away. Josh chuckles lightly, his breaths shifting the hair on top of my head. “You want to come up and watch a movie or something?” he drawls.

He doesn’t wait for me to answer, just helps me to stand, takes my hand and leads me up to his apartment. And I let him. The entire time my heart hammers furiously in my chest, but not at all from the reasons I’ve been accustomed to.

There is no fear.

No anxiety.

No shame.

Just excitement.

★★★

We sit on the couch with the TV on mute. He looks at me. I look at him. A slow smile builds on his beautiful face and I find myself doing the same. “So,” he says.

“So,” I whisper.

And his smile gets wider.

“Is Robby your brother?”

Turning his entire body to face me, he shakes his head, one arm going on to the back of the couch, the other on my leg. “He’s my uncle. My dad’s stepbrother.”

I nod slowly, my eyes on him and his smile falters, just for a second. “Can I ask you something?”

He sighs. “You can ask anything as long as I’m not expected to answer.”

“That’s fair.”

He raises his eyebrows.

“You guys talked a lot about you and Tommy… but you never spoke about your parents. If they’re your family…”

He clears his throat and looks over my shoulder. “It’s because my parents aren’t really part of my life. They kind of disowned me when Natalie got pregnant.”

I hate everyone named Natalie.

I’ve never known one before but I hate them already.

“They both know it’s a no-go zone for me so they don’t talk about them. Ever.”

“Okay,” I say with another slow nod. “And they mentioned skating, like it was something—”

“Something I don’t want to talk about,” he cuts in.

“Okay.”

“That’s it? Just okay? You’re not going to push it?”

“I’ll never force you to talk about something you don’t want to.”

He smiles. Right before leaning in and kissing me soft and slow. When he pulls back, he lets out a quiet groan, then presses his lips together.

“What?” I ask, running my fingers through his hair.

“I think… just the beers and today and being alone with you and your eyes… and fuck you’re ridiculously beautiful. I’m trying to stop my mind from going places it shouldn’t go…” He bites his lip, his eyes trailing down my body. And I’ve never felt more wanted or appreciated in my life. His hand automatically goes to my waist when I sit up a little.